"Are—are you okay?!" The car door swung open as the driver hurriedly stepped out.
Lan Xiaoke slowly got to her feet, "Ah, it's nothing..."
"Pfft." Blood seeped from the corner of her lips.
"You're literally spitting blood?!"
At that moment, Ye Chuan and Bai Qianshuang caught up. Ye Chuan first glanced at Lan Xiaoke's condition—after all, she was a cultivator now, so getting hit by a car going barely 30 or 40 mph shouldn’t be a big deal.
A hundred-ton truck would be another story.
"Don’t panic, just settle this privately. You don’t want us clinging to you, do you?" Seeing how pale the driver had turned, Ye Chuan casually pulled out his phone and showed the man a QR code.
The practiced motion gave the driver the illusion that this was some kind of staged scam.
"O-okay then."
Seeing Lan Xiaoke’s state, the driver didn’t even bother with insurance. He quickly scanned 10,000 yuan to Ye Chuan and sped off.
"Now we’ve got money for food and clothes." Ye Chuan tossed a healing spell at Lan Xiaoke.
"Eh? I’m fine." Lan Xiaoke felt the pain vanish instantly. She looked at Ye Chuan curiously, "Can I learn this healing spell?"
"Not for now."
Since it was magic he’d randomly acquired, Ye Chuan had no idea how to teach it to others.
It wasn’t like he could just say he could use it effortlessly with a wave of his hand, no prerequisites needed.
"Then can I have the medical compensation?"
"That’s even more of a no."
Lan Xiaoke slumped to the ground in defeat, pouting. "Got hit and still no money..."
"Fine, half of it." Ye Chuan transferred 5,000 yuan to her. Truthfully, he wasn’t lacking in real-world money anymore, especially after establishing the pharmaceutical company—cash would soon be flowing in steadily.
But seeing Lan Xiaoke’s money-grubbing expression, he couldn’t resist teasing her.
"Yay!"
Lan Xiaoke immediately brightened up, her eyes sparkling so much that Ye Chuan couldn’t help but poke her forehead.
Little miser.
No idea who she picked that up from.
......
Ye Chuan took Lan Xiaoke and Bai Qianshuang to a nearby shopping plaza. There was no trace left of the earlier monster attacks, and the bustling crowds made everything seem peaceful.
"Ice cream!" Lan Xiaoke spotted the dessert shop at once, grabbing Ye Chuan’s arm and dragging him forward.
"Welcome!" The shopkeeper greeted them as they entered. "You can scan the QR code on the table to order."
Ye Chuan led Bai Qianshuang and Lan Xiaoke to a booth.
"Beep." Lan Xiaoke eagerly pulled out her phone to scan and order. "This one’s on me!"
Her mouth watered at the dazzling array of desserts—after all, she hadn’t eaten any in decades. After dying, she could only sniff the aroma and secretly watch students sneak snacks into class.
"This one’s so cute… What’s this? Banlangen-flavored ice cream? And durian? I wanna try them all..." She picked and chose until Ye Chuan realized she’d ordered over a dozen items.
"Don’t overdo it, you’re not a kid anymore," Ye Chuan reminded her.
"I’m only eighteen."
"Wasn’t talking about age."
"Oh?"
Lan Xiaoke had ordered so much that a server came over to confirm if it was a mistake. After getting a firm yes, they shrugged—the bill was already paid.
Soon, plate after plate of desserts arrived.
Lan Xiaoke scooped up a spoonful of ice cream, watching the cold mist rise from it, her eyes gleaming.
One bite in, the white-haired girl immediately closed her eyes in bliss. "Heavenly~"
Bai Qianshuang quietly enjoyed her own ice cream, though she wasn’t as expressive as Lan Xiaoke.
Ye Chuan glanced at the table full of sweets and snapped a photo to send to Luo Xi.
Ye Chuan: Look look, want some?
Luo Xi replied almost instantly.
Luo Xi: Looks delicious! Next time, you’re treating me.
Ye Chuan: Maybe if your ‘elastic dance’ performance is good enough.
Luo Xi: Hmph~
Ye Chuan wasn’t big on desserts himself, sipping apple soda while waiting for Bai Qianshuang and Lan Xiaoke to polish off the mountain of sweets.
"So good!" Lan Xiaoke finished the last scoop of ice cream with satisfaction.
"Acting like a kid." Ye Chuan wiped the corner of her mouth with a napkin, and she grinned goofily. "Well, back in my day, we didn’t have all these fancy treats."
"The ‘milk tea’ we drank was just flavored powder mixed with water, and the ‘coconut jelly’ was dyed rainbow colors. Only cost one yuan, too."
"Sounds ancient."
Just then, the TV screen in the shop caught Ye Chuan’s attention.
A battle was being broadcast—a group of superhumans hunting down a monster. With coordinated teamwork, a dinosaur-like creature with a bladed tail collapsed.
"Superhuman Hunting Squad, welcoming all newcomers!" A scarred woman flashed a thumbs-up at the camera.
"Hunting squads?"
"With all the monsters around now, people with special abilities are forming teams to hunt them," Lan Xiaoke explained, ever the internet-savvy one.
"How’s that different from the Alliance’s squads?"
"Hmm..." Lan Xiaoke rubbed her chin. "Dunno~"
"Official hunting teams versus civilian militias," Bai Qianshuang cut in, seeming to understand. "The civilian ones are freer and pay better."
"Makes sense." These squads weren’t under the Alliance’s jurisdiction, so any materials harvested from monsters didn’t need to be shared with them.
The downside was that most monster resources were already controlled by the official Alliance and major families. Groups like these were left scrambling for scraps.
"Still, monopolies aren’t healthy. A bit of competition keeps the Alliance on its toes." Ye Chuan propped his chin on his hand, smirking.
"Hey, Ye Chuan, with more and more people awakening powers, do you think there’ll be official awakening ceremonies someday? Mass-producing superhumans to fight monsters?" Lan Xiaoke asked curiously.
"Not impossible." Ye Chuan considered it.
If a method existed, the Alliance could help suitable candidates awaken—with the condition that they’d work for the Alliance for a while.
Of course, "working for the Alliance" was practically the same as working for Ye Chuan.
After all, he’d always been the real power behind the Jianghai branch.
"Anyway, enough about that." Ye Chuan mulled over his next plans for the real world before turning to Lan Xiaoke and Bai Qianshuang.
"Let’s go shopping for clothes."
"Me!"
to panic—he has a system. As long as an investment target dies, he can claim a reward. And since he is immortal, the one thing he has plenty of is time. ... Countless years later. “Immortal Emperor of Longevity? I invested in him.” “Supreme Celestial Venerable? I invested in him.” “Undying Empress? I invested in her.” “...” “Heh. Once they’ve all died, even the Heavenly Dao will have to kneel and call me Dad.”
【Prologue: The Beginning of It All – Use holy water to heal the saintess tainted by demonic energy, then converse with her.】 Shen Nian stared at his older sister sipping yogurt, lost in thought. So you’re telling me my sister is the saintess, and yogurt is the holy water? 【Main Quest 1: Brave Youth, Become an Adventurer! Reward: Rookie Adventurer Title.】 【Side Quest 1: Find the Adorable Kitty! Reward: 1000 Gold Coins.】 Shen Nian: "Wait, I’m a high school senior here—did some guy who got isekai’d accidentally bind his system to me?" Hold on, completing quests gives gold rewards? Titles even boost stats? Is this for real? (A lighthearted, absurd campus comedy—not a revenge power fantasy.)
he colors of other people’s emotions. Light red meant anxiety. Gray meant exhaustion. Orange meant excitement. Yellow... meant repression. At the same time, he could gain unlimited control over one of those colors. Pale cyan: relaxation. Using this ability, he started offering “two-yuan hugs,” spending an afternoon exchanging emotional-color experiences with others. Then came his final female customer of the day— a girl whose emotional color was pure black... —— A week later, Xu Chuan had become skilled at using pale cyan—Relaxation—treating it like a bottle of menthol balm whenever he needed it. That was when he discovered he had unlocked another unlimited emotional color: Purple, the color of fear. So these emotional colors refresh every week? Fine, I take it back—I’ll never call you useless again... —— Much later, after Xu Chuan had accumulated countless emotional abilities, one night, he suddenly found himself inside someone else’s dream. There, he could use the emotional colors he possessed to paint. And in her dream, he painted her a shower of pink shooting stars, spreading across the depths of the night sky...
s the Eldest Princess, renowned for her cold and aloof detachment, became the most docile of lambs, obeying his every command without question. But when the final move was played on the chessboard, as Gu Chenghan seized everything and ascended on the verge of apotheosis, that very Princess suddenly embraced him from behind, her tone carrying a dependence never heard before: "Wait... you haven't yet... commanded me to love you forever." Gu Chenghan froze abruptly. She... hadn't been hypnotized?! ... [The Eldest Princess's Diary] [When my soul was extracted, becoming the sole spectator outside my own shell] [At first, there was overwhelming fury, until I saw] [How he used my sword to effortlessly shatter my inescapable doom] [How he wielded my authority to eradicate fatal conspiracies I had never even detected] [Like a deity, he rescued me from the deep mire I was trapped in] [If not for those annoying vixens, he and I would be a match made in heaven] [I think I am ill, gravely ill] [My deity should belong to me alone] ... "Hypnosis? Oh, it succeeded, my dear Master." "Only this time, it's my turn to hypnotize you."
